Bonatz heir loses against Stuttgart 21 railway project

The judgment of the Regional Court (LG) Stuttgart decided the copyright dispute concerning Stuttgart's main railway station at first instance. In the present case, the LG Stuttgart had to make a difficult copyright-related balancing decision between the preservation interest of the grandson of the author of Stuttgart's main railway station Bonatz in the unchanged substance of the Stuttgart railway station building and the interests of Deutsche Bahn AG as owner in the realization of its objectives with regard to the implementation of the "Stuttgart 21" project.

In the context of the railway project "Stuttgart 21" and the conversion of Stuttgart's main railway station from a terminus to a through-station, Deutsche Bahn AG decided to demolish both side wings including the staircase system in the large counter hall of the listed Bonatz building. The grandson of the author, Mr. Peter Dübbers, is resisting as one of the heirs of architect Prof. Paul Bonatz (1877 to 1956), who planned the main railway station Stuttgart and directed its execution, against this planned demolition, as this would, in the opinion of the heir, mutilate the building as a total work of art.
The action was not directed against the conversion of the main railway station from a terminus to a through-station; it was exclusively about the complete preservation of the integrity of the Bonatz building itself.

Court's decision
The Regional Court (LG) Stuttgart decided in its judgment of 19.05.2010 – Az. 17 O 42/10, in favor of Deutsche Bahn AG.
According to the view of the Regional Court (LG), the copyright-related preservation interest of the Bonatz heir must here take a back seat to the modernization interests of the owner.

Although the demolition measures at Stuttgart's main railway station are to be qualified as intensive interventions in a unique work of architectural art, the expiry of three-quarters of the copyright protection period of 70 years for the building structure as well as the restriction of the demolition measures to the wing buildings relativize the copyright-related personality rights preservation interest. Furthermore, the essential building components remain preserved, so that the author's signature is retained.

In view of the strong functional nature of the railway station building as a functional structure, to which Paul Bonatz also aligned his aesthetic design, there is a strong modernization interest on the part of the building owner. In the case of a functional building such as Stuttgart's main railway station, the traffic-strategically paramount further development interests of the railway company take precedence over the preservation interests of the Bonatz heir, since the planned conversion of the former terminus station into a through-station will result in a functional and reference loss of the wing buildings. Their demolition must be accepted as a consequence of this functional change.

Conclusion

The unsuccessful Bonatz heir Mr. Dübbers in this case has already announced that he intends to bring this copyright dispute to the second instance. The qualification of Stuttgart's main railway station as a unique work of architectural art gives the copyright holder in the second instance justifiable grounds for hope that he may yet prevent the demolition of parts of the Bonatz building. The rights holder will continue to argue that the conversion of Stuttgart's main railway station from a terminus to a through-station can also be carried out without the demolition of the side wings of the listed building.